PP6: Education 1
A great man once said 'Education, education, education'. It is a shame therefore that education isn't really something I would attribute to his otherwise glowing, if debt ridden, legacy.
As far as I can tell education in Britain is awful. I honestly believe that our schools suffer from a fascination with new funky teaching methods imposed by a top down curriculum that stifles innovation. New methods that I strongly believe don't work. Now I have been told by someone close to me, and who is well versed in these new methods, that I say this only because I am one of those rare people that learn best by being told how things work. Once told and I have had time to digest the idea on my own, with only a pencil and a piece of paper for company I tend to remember it.
I don't require three weeks of throwing crap out of classroom windows, designing posters and making role plays in order to understand the basics of gravity. My hellish memories of high school are just that - glitter and glue in place of substance.
I also have major hang ups about the quality of universities here in the UK and think they could learn a lesson or twelve from the excellent American system. But, to cut a long story short I shall list three or four simple policies I am sure need adopting.
1. Make new Grammar Schools. Sure they're not perfect in terms of getting poor kids into good schools cos middle class parents can always coach their kids to pass tests. But tough. Some will get through and we need fresh blood to enliven the nations talent pool.
2. Foreign languages in primary schools. The older kids get the less they can take on board new languages. So bag em when they're young. The Government is already doing this in some schools. Good on em.
3. The GCSE and A Level needs to compete with other programs like the IB. Therefore they should be restructured to include compulsory voluntary work. This would also be a great opportunity to teach kids what the word oxymoran means.
4. A back to basics program for 11 - 14 year olds. Hire a full time organiser for every university. Give them an office in the university and give them a budget to go and recruit x many students looking for part time work. Send each of these students off on a crash course weekend somewhere to learn the basics of English and Maths and how to teach these basics. Send them back to their universities and have them teach for an hour after school hours at a local school to kids between 11 and 14 (any older and undergrads might start illicit relationships with their students and bring the whole program into disrupte). The difficulty I suspect will be geting kids to attend, not getting volunteers from the universities. An incentive would therefore have to be devised. Perhaps by offering a certificate upon completion of x many sessions, with the unis logo on it, we might get ambitious kids interested. The underlying principle is to provide extra tuition to school kids in the basics of english and maths that are missing in so many school leavers (myself included). Once again this will be a scheme mainly adopted by middle class kids with pushy parents. But so what? All the government can do is provide opportunities. If broken families or low aspirations prevent kids from taking them then that is another problem all together beyond the scope of this post.
5. National Citizen Service. I know, I know, when the Tories first announced this I balked. I was outraged that this outdated model was to be brought back. Since then however I have come to thick of the scheme as a top idea. Having just completed an intense two week training course I have come to respect the value of crash courses. A crash course in being an active citizen seems like a very good idea indeed for both the individual and the country.
I could really go on forever. But must now stop. Anyone reading this could make my day and add additional points in the comments section. :)
As far as I can tell education in Britain is awful. I honestly believe that our schools suffer from a fascination with new funky teaching methods imposed by a top down curriculum that stifles innovation. New methods that I strongly believe don't work. Now I have been told by someone close to me, and who is well versed in these new methods, that I say this only because I am one of those rare people that learn best by being told how things work. Once told and I have had time to digest the idea on my own, with only a pencil and a piece of paper for company I tend to remember it.
I don't require three weeks of throwing crap out of classroom windows, designing posters and making role plays in order to understand the basics of gravity. My hellish memories of high school are just that - glitter and glue in place of substance.
I also have major hang ups about the quality of universities here in the UK and think they could learn a lesson or twelve from the excellent American system. But, to cut a long story short I shall list three or four simple policies I am sure need adopting.
1. Make new Grammar Schools. Sure they're not perfect in terms of getting poor kids into good schools cos middle class parents can always coach their kids to pass tests. But tough. Some will get through and we need fresh blood to enliven the nations talent pool.
2. Foreign languages in primary schools. The older kids get the less they can take on board new languages. So bag em when they're young. The Government is already doing this in some schools. Good on em.
3. The GCSE and A Level needs to compete with other programs like the IB. Therefore they should be restructured to include compulsory voluntary work. This would also be a great opportunity to teach kids what the word oxymoran means.
4. A back to basics program for 11 - 14 year olds. Hire a full time organiser for every university. Give them an office in the university and give them a budget to go and recruit x many students looking for part time work. Send each of these students off on a crash course weekend somewhere to learn the basics of English and Maths and how to teach these basics. Send them back to their universities and have them teach for an hour after school hours at a local school to kids between 11 and 14 (any older and undergrads might start illicit relationships with their students and bring the whole program into disrupte). The difficulty I suspect will be geting kids to attend, not getting volunteers from the universities. An incentive would therefore have to be devised. Perhaps by offering a certificate upon completion of x many sessions, with the unis logo on it, we might get ambitious kids interested. The underlying principle is to provide extra tuition to school kids in the basics of english and maths that are missing in so many school leavers (myself included). Once again this will be a scheme mainly adopted by middle class kids with pushy parents. But so what? All the government can do is provide opportunities. If broken families or low aspirations prevent kids from taking them then that is another problem all together beyond the scope of this post.
5. National Citizen Service. I know, I know, when the Tories first announced this I balked. I was outraged that this outdated model was to be brought back. Since then however I have come to thick of the scheme as a top idea. Having just completed an intense two week training course I have come to respect the value of crash courses. A crash course in being an active citizen seems like a very good idea indeed for both the individual and the country.
I could really go on forever. But must now stop. Anyone reading this could make my day and add additional points in the comments section. :)
posted by Benjamin Nakizo at 7:00 AM
1 Comments:
I agree that the standards of education in this country need to be improved. Not just the standards, as you alluded to, but the way the subjects are taught.
The point I would add is: I feel schools are unecessarily coy when it comes to pushing the value of education on their pupils. In terms of getting along in the world and simply because its interesting to be interested.
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